I first read this novel when I was a student of German fifty years ago, and I am enjoying it more on this late second reading and understanding it better. The novel (written in German) is set in Germany during 1937, when the Nazis are in power, and the story takes place in a small quiet north German harbour town, Rerik, where five people gather in the hope of escape across the sea: a 16-year old boy whose idol is Huckleberry Finn; a young Jewish girl; the local priest who wants to prevent the Nazis from seizing a medieval wood carving of a reading monk; a disillusioned and fearful communist functionary; and a fisherman whose mentally challenged wife is at risk of being taken and gassed by the Nazis. It is a gripping human story that captures the oppressive and threatening atmosphere that had existed in Nazi Germany shortly before the War. The intentions of the Nazis are very clear, and so is the desperation to escape from them. It is a darned good story, and should not be too demanding for a student of German with a good basic grounding in the language.Read full review
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